Stephanie Lecci visited Six Flags to learn more about its new wooden roller coaster - Goliath - and to take on the ride herself.

Summer is here as we prepare to celebrate Independence Day, go to the beach, have picnics, and plan road trips. For many in the Midwest, summertime and Six Flags naturally go together. This year a brand new roller coaster – Goliath – breaks not one, but three world records.

John Krajnak, Six Flags Marketing Director says, “this might be the best ride in our park right now…it’s the tallest and steepest drop on any wooden coaster on the planet, and it is the fastest wooden coaster on the planet at 72 miles per hour. It is a phenomenal ride.”

Steel coasters occupy much of the amusement park, yet the opening of Goliath shows that wooden coasters still hold great appeal. Fred Grubb, founder of Rocky Mountain Construction, built the new coaster which harnesses new technology to make it just as capable as its steel counterparts. “It’s interesting, innovative technology…people are passionate about wooden coasters,” he says. “It’s a different ride…what we’ve done is up the game. We’ve made the wood coaster capable of different elements that we couldn’t do before.”

Goliath has been online for about a month, and it is already a major attraction for visitors this summer. Lake Effect's Stephanie Lecci certainly recommends it.